Leviticus 20:13
Saturday, March 16, 2013, the Christian conservative Government Is Not God PAC (GING-PAC) has warned Ohio Senator Rob Portman that his gay son may die of AIDS. This was after Portman endorsed gay marriage yesterday, March 16, 2013.
The following are some of the key points made on the GING-PAC website. You can read the whole blog at http://www.gingpac.org/republican-senator-rob-portman-now-supports-gay-marriage.
The author will respond to each of the major statements made in the GING-PAC blog in bold/italic text so that you can separate the PAC statement from the author’s response.
- The group warned Portman that he was "accepting a behavior that may eventually kill his son from AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases, or oral cancer."
By practicing normal safe sex practices, which apply to heterosexual and homosexual sexual practices outside a monogamous relationship, the risk of AIDs and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are minimized. In a same-sex marriage, the partners will be monogamous and further reduce any risk of AIDS or STDs.
Oral cancer actually is related to the HPV-16 virus, which can be sexually transmitted. Anyone practicing oral sex without a condom is at risk. This applies to both males and females that have sexual contact with male or female sexual organs. Safe sex, testing and monogamous relationships all reduce the risk of contact with HPV-16 and other HPV organisms. You can learn more about this topic at www.facebook.com/hpvandme and on Twitter using @hpvandmeorg.
- "Homosexual sex is ultimately just as destructive as cocaine use. Would Portman suddenly call for the legalization of cocaine if his son had announced that he was a cocaine addict? Would that be 'loving' and 'compassionate'?"
A loving and compassionate same-sex relationship is as valid as a loving and compassionate heterosexual relationship. Cocaine is inherently destructive to the human mind and body. Same-sex relationships encounter the same rewards and difficulties as heterosexual relationships. The sexual orientation of the partners is not a key factor in the success of a marriage. As GING-PAC stated, it is all about love and compassion.
- The organization also called on Portman to put his son into "ex-gay" conversion therapy. "A person with a same-sex attraction has a treatable condition. No one is 'born gay' and there is hope for those who want to overcome these destructive behaviors."
People with a same-sex attraction make a decision to accept their orientation as they are. Acceptance is a decision. Sexual attraction is based upon a complex set of conditions that are specific to each person. There are many attributes that a person has that are not subject to change by a decision, e.g. eye color, sex, race, etc. Unless a person makes a decision to try to change their sexual orientation, acceptance is the decision that works best for most people.
The most helpful information in GING-PAC’s message is to create an awareness of the dangers of oral sex. This danger applies to anyone outside of a monogamous relationship with partners that are assured of being free of STDs. Thank you, GING-PAC for warning of that danger, which also applies to heterosexual couples.
The basis of the condemnation of same-sex marriage has a limited foundation in the Bible. The main passage against homosexual relationships is found in Leviticus 20:13, using the King James Version:
If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood [shall be] upon them.
It is interesting that I Samuel 18:1-3 appears to describe a very strong same-sex relationship, and there is no apparent condemnation in the following verses.
“And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father’s house. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.”
As spiritualists, we would not condemn this relationship of David and Jonathan. We agree with the GING-PAC that love and compassion are the key elements to a relationship. With care, Will Portman should live a long and fruitful life whatever manner of relationship he chooses.
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